How Meat Contributes To Global Warming
Pound for pound, beef production generates greenhouse gases that contribute more than 13 times as much to global warming than gases emitted from producing chicken. For potatoes, the multiplier is 57. Beef consumption is rising rapidly, both as population increases and as people eat more meat. Producing the annual beef diet of the average American emits as much greenhouse gas as a car driven more than 1,800 miles. [Excerpted from website]
Raising animals requires a large amount of feed per unit of body weight, and in 2003 researchers estimated that producing a pound of beef protein requires more than 10 pounds of plant protein. Specifically, producing one pound of beef in a feedlot generates 14.8 pounds of CO2, more than 36 times the amount produced in raising asparagus. A pound of pork generates 3.8 pounds of CO2 equivalent gases, and a pound of chicken generates 1.1 pounds.